After the segment aired during Sunday’s premiere, some viewers found the kiss to be inappropriate in the wake of the #MeToo movement, arguing that such an encounter would not fly had the genders been reversed:

Imagine if a 33 year-old male artist tricked a 19 year-old female auditioner into a kiss like Katy Perry just did with that teenage guy. Would we all think it was cute? #AmericanIdol— Craig M. Tiede (@craigmtd) March 12, 2018

For what it’s worth, Glaze seemed quite smitten by the smooch attack — until, that is, the judges told him he wasn’t ready for the competition. Kiss of death, indeed!

To her credit, Perry took some of the blame, sweetly telling her experimental game:

“I think you were a bit rushed and I think that’s because I sped up your BPM of the heartbeat.”